No, this isn’t about death metal, it’s not an insane claim that rock is dead, and it’s not about icons passing away. This is about soccer… played by RockTernative guys and girls. Every World Cup has a Group of Death — that one where we wonder if the pairing committee spent too many hours in the pub:
- Every team is great
- Every point matters
- Every match is like a back-alley brawl
- One mistake can prove fatal
- One spectacular play can unite an entire country
WHO’S IN THE GROUP OF DEATH
At RockTernative, every day is like being in the Group of Death, with high-level competition on every platform — yet it’s not always easy to tell the winners from losers. And it’s not as simple as putting 11 on each side and playing ball.
You already know who’s in the RockTernative Group of Death — it starts with other FM stations and ends with a gazillion streaming platforms and their vertical brands. Yet everyone is fighting for the same attention and revenue — just with different rules, clocks, measurements, budgets, and definitions of success.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Some brands know they’re in the Group of Death and act like it — buttoned up, talented, researched, evolving, and connected to their markets.
Others play like they’re scrimmaging Qatar — lazy, predictable, not live, local, or topical, still blasting last summer’s imaging and driving the van with the old positioning statement. Those brands would be relegated in the Premier League. Some are simply overmatched with no budget, like Curaçao, so they get a pass, but others do have resources and still choose to scrimmage.
If you’re at a brand looking to toughen up for the critically important fall season, let’s fire up a few World Cup-isms and hit the pitch.
FORMATION
In the World Cup, team formations aren’t built to look fancy on TV — they’re strategy, so if your brand isn’t meeting expectations, it’s likely time to adjust the formation. That can mean anything from music to talent to leadership, but remember — just because another station wins with a 4-4-2 formation doesn’t mean you have the personnel or music mix to win that way.
To do: SWOT the market, audit your brand, and use research, data, gut, and listener groups to find the formation that best fits your team.
TALENT
Argentina doesn’t win the 2022 Cup without Messi, and the same idea applies here: stars can change everything.
To do: If you have a standout talent, use them everywhere — not just in one daypart only half your cume touches — but if you don’t have a star, adjust your “winning expectations” unless the music is a massive cume magnet.
MOMENTS
Every tournament is defined by a few key moments — those spectacular plays everyone remembers — and these “moments” are easier to achieve at radio than on the pitch.
To do: Decide what “moments” your brand will own the rest of the year, and prepare for them, whether that’s the 4th of July, Labor Day, Back to School, concert season, a new release, or a killer morning show stunt.
Unexpected “moments” will also land in your lap — a big sports story, artist meltdowns, severe weather, local controversy, a blockbuster movie release, or maybe the aliens will finally show up. There will be moments waiting to be owned every week, and the brands that advance out of the Group of Death will see them first… and own them.
PRACTICE
World Cup players practice constantly, but radio rarely does — most radio reps are live, spontaneous, or prerecorded and mailed in, and it shows in execution, content, and consistency. Meaningful prep or practice is one of the largest deficits radio faces each day versus its competition.
To do: Build a system for accountability and preparation — if jocks wing it, don’t be shocked when they don’t make it out of group play. If leadership doesn’t have everyone synched, don’t be surprised when events, socials, deliverables, ratings, and revenue fall apart.
COACHING
In soccer, the coach gets the blame, but in radio, it’s usually the talent — and if talent isn’t growing, it’s one of three things.
- The talent has peaked.
- The strategy is wrong.
- The coach isn’t a great coach.
To do: Coaches must audit themselves with the same honesty they’d expect from anyone else on staff, and if you don’t have a great coach, find one.
Radio and soccer aren’t all that different in the end — work hard, have the right mindset, and you’ll survive the Group of Death.
Enjoy the World Cup.
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Keith Cunningham is a music industry and Rock/Alternative columnist for Barrett Media and the founder of Black Box Group, a modern-modeled creative & strategic consultancy built for brands that need strategies with teeth. He’s the former Master of Mayhem at 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles for over a decade, a nationwide consultant, and has been repeatedly voted one of America’s top Program Directors and strategic thinkers. Keith has built his career by taking multi-million-dollar brands from worst to first and leading Marconi & Gracie award winners along the way. A data nerd with a rock-and-roll heart, he is an advisory council member for St. Jude fundraising, a fantasy football champion, and lover of his daughters & dogs. Reach him at keithblackboxgroup@gmail.com or on LinkedIn or X.
